by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - When rapper 50 Cent arrived at the Daytona 500, he immediately made an observation.

"Damn I don't see no black people lol," he tweeted.

That's enough to make anyone feel out of place. But within a couple hours, 50 Cent - real name Curtis Jackson - had changed his tune.

Jackson posed for a photo with Mark Martin - a huge rap fan - and tweeted the 54-year-old driver was an "OG" while marveling at his rap knowledge. He got pumped up to see Denny Hamlin running second at one point in the race, noting Hamlin told Jackson to look for him at the front.

"DAYTONA IS THE BEST IM LOVING THIS" he tweeted.

He then deleted his earlier tweet about not seeing any black people.

If NASCAR can make fans out of 50 Cent and T.I. - who was also at the race - it might help change the perception of the sport in the hip hop community.

During a pre-race conversation with USA TODAY Sports, Jackson said any inroads would have to be natural and not forced. He compared it to skateboarding, a sport which rap artists like Lil Wayne are passionate about.

"When it has that (artist) that comes in that is completely (like) 'NASCAR is life' away from his actual art, it'll come to the forefront," Jackson said. "Now, skateboard culture and all these other things are exploding because the artists have that fetish away from music. And then it becomes more extreme, because that person is more involved."

The other way for NASCAR and hip hop to bond, he said (in apparent seriousness), would be if a NASCAR driver started making music.

That doesn't seem likely anytime soon.

But there's no reason NASCAR wouldn't appeal to males from every walk of life, Jackson said.

"A male child, what do you offer him as a toy?" he said. "Before he can ask you, you offer him a car, truck."

Jackson said he likes to drive fast - he said he once went 120 mph without getting a ticket.

T.I. recently drove at some excessive speeds, too - in a Richard Petty Driving Experience car at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He said he came away with a whole new respect for drivers.

Would Jackson ever name-drop a NASCAR driver in one of his songs?

"It would have to be me making reference to my sex drive," he said, laughing. "Just figure out a creative way to take it out of context, but have it make sense."

Jackson said his upcoming album Street King Immortal is finished. It is expected to be released in the first quarter of this year.

"I've had so much success in the past with my music projects that they compare me to me," he said.